Darren Lehmann to have 'private chat' with Usman Khawaja
Tuesday 25 October 2016 08:49, UK
Australia coach Darren Lehmann will have a 'private chat' with Usman Khawaja after the batsman publicly criticised selectors for dropping him during the Sri Lanka tour.
Khawaja and opener Joe Burns were omitted for the third and final Test in Colombo, which Australia lost - as well as the series.
Although both Queenslanders struggled for runs, Khawaja told local media over the weekend he felt they were unfairly singled out.
He told Fairfax Media: "It was disappointing that Joe Burns and I were sort of the scapegoats for not performing.
"I found it pretty fickle that the selectors dropped me for the third one."
Khawaja's comments were made less than a week before Lehmann and selectors Rod Marsh, Mark Waugh and Trevor Hohns, pick their squad for the three-Test series against South Africa.
Lehmann said he would talk to Khawaja but denied the batsman's comments would count against his hopes of a recall.
He told reporters on Tuesday: "He is not on the back foot. I will chat to him privately.
"We would rather have these things played out between selectors and players."
Khawaja and Burns both enjoyed outstanding home summers against New Zealand and West Indies but struggled on the flat wickets of Sri Lanka during August where they averaged 13.75 and 8.50 runs respectively.
Lehmann added: "At the end of the day, there were different conditions and those two guys weren't playing well enough - they averaged eight or seven in two Test matches.
"We had to change something but that doesn't affect the summer at home.
"We have to work out what we think the best batting line-up is for the summer."
Khawaja and Burns will hope to impress selectors in Queensland's day-night Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales this week.
